A bizarre accident aboard an airliner bound from Hong Kong to Denver leaves three people dead and scores injured as the plane makes an emergency landing at Los Angeles International Airport. Everyone associated with the airline industry wants to know how a new airplane, being operated by an experienced crew in mild weather, could possibly injure so many people. Or do they?

Casey Singleton, a vice-president at Norton Aircraft, which built the plane, is in charge of the Incident Review Team, a group of engineers that the company assigns to examine the aircraft for clues to the malfunction. As her team's investigation of Flight 545 begins within hours after the accident, Casey discovers herself in the center of a storm of controversy that threatens to destroy any chance of finding what all concerned claim they want, the truth.

The protocols for investigating operational troubles on an airplane are well...